Such surgical instruments are used for various surgical interventions, in which case contact parts designed according to the purpose of application are formed on the distal end of the shaft and on the distal end of the slider. These contact parts can be, for example, parts of a punch, for removing tissue, bones, and cartilage from the human body. By spreading apart the handle parts, the contact parts are separated from one another in the axial direction, so that the instrument is open for the intervention. By pressing the handle parts together against the spring force, the contact parts are made to contact in order to separate the tissue or similar lying between them.
The shaft and slider lie against each other with sliding surfaces and are engaged with each other with guides. After use in surgery, the surgical instruments must be cleaned and sterilized in order to avoid transmission of infections, diseases or similar in subsequent interventions. In addition, this cleaning also helps in maintaining the function and quality of the instrument. In order to be able to thoroughly clean and sterilize the sliding surfaces and guides, it is necessary to be able to separate the slider from the shaft. For this purpose, the slider is moved in the proximal direction into the cleaning position, in which the guides are disengaged so that the slider and shaft can be lifted up and separated. In order that the slider cannot be moved unintentionally into the cleaning position during the use of the instrument and thus become separated from the shaft, a locking member is provided which, in a locking position, prevents movement of the slider beyond the proximal end of its working stroke, into the cleaning position. The locking member can be moved from the locking position into a release position in which the locking member permits movement of the slider into its cleaning position.